Masculinity In Nick Adams Short Stories

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The Nick Adams stories, which is a collection of short stories, focuses on this theme of masculinity. We meet this young boy named Nick, who is very naïve and still has many things to learn before he could be considered a true man. Contained in these stories are the experiences that he goes through, helping him understand many topics such as life, death, and relationships. Masculinity plays a major role in Nick’s life through the teachings of his father and others. We are first introduced to Nick in the short story “Indian Camp” along with his father, Dr. Adams. In this story, a young Indian woman is in labor and Nick’s father is brought in to help the woman give birth to her child. Nick comes along to experience this as a sort of initiation of life. His father also wants to teach Nick about what being a doctor is like. We find the theme of masculinity well represented in this …show more content…
The interaction between Dr. Adams and Dick shows that a sense of manliness and pride are the driving forces of a male relationship. Even though everyone knows what the doctor is doing with the logs, the doctor won’t give in to Dick’s tormenting. Dick and the other men also understand the doctor’s reaction, but in the doctor’s relationship with his wife, such understanding does not exist. Nick’s father does not want to answer her questions and, when he does, he lies to her because he thinks that she would not understand the situation. Plus, the doctor’s wife is very religious so she insists that he should not lose his temper which shows that she does not want him to be stereotypically male, someone who is aggressive and territorial. Another example of masculinity is when Nick’s father decides to go hunting, where he can express his manliness. Nick also decides to go with him, further proving his masculinity because he is taking priority of his male relationship rather than his relationship with his
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